Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of PM’s Speech on laying of foundation stone for various developmental projects in Dhanbad and Patratu
Governor of Jharkhand, Mrs. Draupadi Murmu, the popular Chief Minister, Mr. Raghubar Das ji, my colleague from the Council of Ministers at the centre Mr. R.K. Singh, Mr. Ashwini, Sudarshan Bhagat ji, Minister of the Government of Jharkhand, Mr. Amar Kumar, Ramchandra ji, our MP Mr. Prem Singh, MLA Mr. Fulchand and my dear brothers and sisters who are present here in large numbers.
First of all, I salute the brave Bhagwan Birsa Munda. This is the land of sacrifice. This is the land of struggle of Jaipal Singh and Shri Munda ji. This is also the land of Atal Bihari Vajpayee's dreams. Its mineral reserves are like the engines of development for the country.
I was told that you have been waiting for the past 2-3 hours. You have warmly welcomed us and showered your blessings on us. I am really grateful for your love and blessings. When I had come to Jharkhand during elections, I used to say that two engines i.e. one engine in the form of Jharkhand government and the other in the form of Central government in Delhi, are necessary for the development of Jharkhand. You have seen for yourselves the efforts put together by the centre as well as the Jharkhand government in the last four years in a fixed direction with pre-determined goals. The results are in front of you. The people of Jharkhand have experienced it very well.
In order to decide whether our modus operandi and intentions are right or not and whether we are working for the welfare of the people or not, is decided by just one criterion in democracy which is acceptance by the public. I congratulate the Government of Jharkhand the Chief Minister Raghubar Das Ji and his entire team. The results of the popular elections in the local bodies that were held sometime back show that the work done by the Jharkhand government and the Central government has full support of the people.
Brothers and sisters,
When I had come here during the elections of 2014, I had said that I will return the love showered on me by Jharkhand with interest. I will return it with development. The steps taken by the Central government one after another show the commitment of the government towards the development of Jharkhand. We are moving ahead with a detailed plan for the welfare of Dalits, oppressed, exploited, deprived, tribal brothers and sisters, women, youth and every section of the society.
Today, 5 projects worth nearly 27 thousand crores are being inaugurated. The amount of 27 thousand crores is even more than the budget of the state governments. The foundation stone of the 5 projects worth 27 thousand crores viz. Factory at Sindri, power project at Patratu, airport at the town of Baba bholenath or siva i.e. Deoghar, and pipelines at AIIMS and Ranchi, are being laid down. Over 50 projects worth approximately Rs.80 thousand crores are already going on. You can imagine how Jharkhand is going to progress and develop compared to other states.
I have always been saying that the people of Jharkhand are in possession of diamonds. The coal is like black diamond. Even if it is dark, it has the capacity to illuminate an area. It has the capacity to generate light and produce energy. Keeping this in mind, with an investment of more than 18 thousand crores, a power project is being inaugurated at Patratu. This coal will not only provide financial strength to Jharkhand but will also provide employment to its youth. New paths of development will open up with the help of this power plant in Patratu. We will ensure that the families that have been displaced by this project should get employment and the families will be taken care of.
I am glad that today I have got the opportunity to provide employment cards to some of the youngsters. Several employment opportunities will be available to thousands of youngsters in the future.
Our dream was to provide electricity to every village in our country. When I took charge in 2014, about 18000 villages were still in dark for the past several centuries. They had no access to electricity. They had not seen the electric poles or the transmission lines. We undertook the task of providing electricity to these villages. These were inaccessible, remote and neglected places. People who are immersed in vote bank politics do not bother about the neglected people. They tend to worry only about their vote bank. However, we follow the mantra of 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas'. Therefore, our aim is to provide electricity to each of these 18000 villages, even if it's at a remote corner and the most inaccessible part of the country, with mountain peaks or thick forests. We are ready to spend lakhs of rupees to arrange for transport in such places.
I am glad that we will be able to provide the electricity connections in these 18000 villages before the due date. Earlier no one had the time even after 50-60 years of independence to enquire about the villages that were left un-electrified. However, once we had taken charge, people can see for themselves whether Modi is speaking the truth or not. I am really amused by the fact that those who did not have any time for these 18 thousand villages, are now compelled to visit those villages. Consequently, even the bureaucrats are alert all the time. They are working sincerely under pressure. A pressure is created when a work starts by an announcement. Some people were misleading the country by saying that even though electric poles have been erected and transmission lines have been laid and 5-25 households have been electrified, but has the work been done? Their question is very important.
Those who raise such questions should know that even after 70 years of independence, there are 4 crore or 20% of the households that do not have any access to transmission lines or electricity. Those families have never seen light. It's not that Modi disconnected electricity supply to those households that already had electricity supply. They are to be blamed for compelling these people to live in dark for 60 years. We have taken the responsibility for providing electricity connection to these 18000 villages within the time limit. We are determined to provide electricity connection to 4 crore households under saubhagya scheme. We have taken this responsibility.
Those people who abuse the rich to show their empathy towards the poor keep on repeating that Modi works for the rich. It has become a trend. I want to ask them that which rich section of the society resides in the 18000 villages where electricity connections have been provided. Who are the rich people who reside in those 4 crore households that are still in dark and where Modi wants to provide electricity connection? I want to ask these people who don't have the slightest idea about the sufferings of the workers. Therefore, brothers and sisters, I want to say that we want to include the lowermost strata of the society, the Dalits, the exploited and the deprived section of the society, in the journey of development. Out of the 4 crore families, 32 lakh belong to Jharkhand. I am glad that the Chief Minister along with the central government has taken the responsibility of providing electricity connections to these 32 lakh families. I believe that this initiative will definitely be successful.
Brothers and sisters,
Today I have got the opportunity to re-start the Urea factory at Sindri. This factory was shut down for almost 16 years. But this factory belongs to the time when Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was a minister in the central government from his Bharatiya Janasangha. He had laid the foundation stone of this urea factory at Sindri. Later this was shut down. During 2014 elections, I had told you that we would re-open this factory at Sindri.
Brother and sisters,
Technology should change over time. We have taken steps to use gas as a source of energy. This factory will also start in the near future. A similar factory will be started in Gorakhpur of East Uttar Pradesh.
Brothers and sisters,
Sindri and Dhanbad can be divided like the pole of anchor city. It has a lot of potential. Brothers and sisters,
The urea factories will have easy access to gas. These 3 factories at Barauni of Bihar, Gorakhpur of East UP and Sindri of Jharkhand will help to reduce the transportation cost of obtaining urea for Eastern part of India. The youngsters will get employment. The ease of obtaining urea will help in the country's second agricultural revolution in Eastern India. We want to carry this objective forward.
We have started the process of Neem-coating of urea. Earlier the subsidy was given to the farmers. Urea didn't reach the agricultural fields and was diverted to factories. Those who had run the government for 70 years didn't realize that they should find a way to stop the diversion of the subsidized urea to chemical factories. It was causing such a great loss to the government's treasury.
We took charge and came up with 100% Neem coating of urea. Urea can't be misused for industrial purposes if the Neem oil of its fruit is applied. Urea can solely be used for agricultural use. Therefore, the theft of urea could be ceased.
The people working for the rich are now worried due to this step but now my farmers don't have to queue up for urea. They don't have to purchase Urea from the black market. There was a time when they were beaten up by the police for urea. They are now relieved. For the past two years not a single complaint has been raised about unavailability of urea because we have stopped the theft of urea.
Brothers and sisters,
I have been fighting against corruption and deceit. Several steps have been taken in this direction. Today I will get the opportunity to lay the foundation stone of the gas pipeline project in Ranchi. The 21st century infrastructure should include gas grid, optical fibre network, water grid, power grid and all types of modern facilities. Why should Jharkhand lag behind? Therefore, Ranchi will also be among the rapidly progressing cities that will carry India forward. With this dream, we have decided to work upon the gas grid. Gas will be available to every household and in the future gas will reach 70 districts of UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha and Assam through pipeline.
It was our dream to make kitchens smoke-free. We have started the Ujjwala scheme to attain this goal. Our second step in this direction will be providing gas through pipelines and we are working upon the third step. Clean cooking through solar energy is the next step so that food could be cooked using solar energy with minimal cost. Research is going on in that direction.
Today I have also got the opportunity to lay the foundation stone of AIIMS at Deoghar. A lot of patients have to be transferred to AIIMS at Delhi from eastern India. The poor cannot afford it. We are working in the direction of providing best facilities to the poorest of the poor by spreading the network of AIIMS in eastern India. We are starting AIIMS at Deoghar keeping this in mind. Similarly, Deoghar is also a pilgrimage centre. It's the land of Lord Bholenath. This is also a Shakti Peeth. People from across the country want to visit it. It has a great potential for tourism. Therefore, we are trying to connect it through airport.
The ministry of tourism is also engaged in this work. It's our dream that people wearing slippers should also be able to travel by aeroplanes. This is our dream. You will be delighted to know that last year the number of passengers travelling in planes was greater than those travelling in AC coaches of railways. This depicts that changes are being brought into the lives of the common man.
Brothers and sisters,
We are moving ahead with several developmental projects. It's our dream to provide homes to the poor by 2022. The scheme aims to provide a house with toilet, water supply, power supply and schools nearby. By the year 2022 that will mark 75 years of independence, no person should be without a house. We are moving ahead with this dream.
Brothers and sisters,
I urge you all to participate in the journey of development. The country is now traversing the path of honesty. The common man of India lives the life of honesty. This government is with those who live for honesty and struggle for honesty. Therefore brothers and sisters, we are moving ahead with this important responsibility to fulfil your dreams. You have come in such large numbers and have showered your blessings. I believe that Jharkhand will move to greater heights and progress towards a new Jharkhand. With this belief, I thank you all!